for what it's worth, president obama and house speaker boehner are talking. they had a nice telephone conversation. that's terrific. the first time in a week but apparently that's the headline. that's the editorial body. not much came out of it that we know of. sources say no real breakthrough. no formal negotiations. sessions are not scheduled. no back channel discussions taking place that anybody knows about at this time and as we wait for the white house briefing to begin, let's bring in wolf blitzer on this topic. there are a couple of polls that are very telling about how americans feel about congress and the president are behaving when it comes to the fiscal cliff. let me read some of these numbers for you. should obama compromise to get things done. 72% say yes. 22% say no. should the gop compromise to get things done. and take a look. 72% say yes. my question for you, wolf, i'm not sure you'll have the answer but perhaps you'll have guidance. for those democrats who say the president has a mandate because voters voted him into office while he campaign